Listen, in the build-up to the Civil War, one of the most powerful political forces in the United States was a trend toward moderation that advocated for a moderate amount of slavery, and they saw the abolitionists who wanted zero slavery to be “just as bad” as the planters and fire-eaters who wanted slavery everywhere. This is the “house divided” that Lincoln was talking about; a movement that “rejected extremism on both sides” so that we would have medium slavery.
As it is, so it ever was.
Reading what people wrote about slavery back then had a big impact on me. It was all too familiar how it was justified.
And liberals are perpetually trying to justify this stance with, “Oh, that was just the way things were back then, don’tcha know,”
and I’m just staring at them like
“John Brown having none of your shit” needs to be used more often as a reaction image on this site.
Every single depiction of the man looked like a meme template, even
Worth keeping in mind: when John Kelly said the civil war was started over a “lack of compromise,” he’s trying not to admit, “the South refused to compromise on the idea that slavery should be legal everywhere.”
The abolitionists were not a strong, solid majority. They were the extremists, the people saying “burn it all down” was better than a partial fix. And most white people (y’know, the only people who could vote) were content with “we could have SOME slavery, just… there should be limits.”
The South refused to accept limits. That’s the “lack of compromise” that kicked off the Civil War.
When some asshole Nazi wannabe tells you “look, both sides have some valid opinions; we should have more compromise,” know that what he really means is, “YOU should compromise; I should have the right to be as vicious as I want to anyone I wish.” And the people actually advocating for compromise? Again, they mean, “the bigots have been a big part of our history and we need to keep making them feel welcome. Their targets need to accept the gains they’ve gotten, and shut up about actually getting equality.”
So fuck compromise. Compromise only works when you’re starting from equal positions.
I don’t remember EVER learning about this dude, so I went to Wikipedia and this one sentence really resonated:
Historian James Loewen surveyed American History textbooks and noted that historians considered Brown perfectly sane until about 1890, but he was generally portrayed as insane from about 1890 until 1970.
Also I want to know if he ever had a grand, flowing beard like that or if the artist was like “No, he absolutely NEED a Moses beard. NEEDS IT.”
Venus open world just went full cyberpunk. Workers shown with their FUCKING HEADS and other body parts replaced by machines as they work as slaves to repay debts to the Corpus
The next time you recommend Warframe to someone and they ask what genre of game it is, you answer with “Everything.”
Representatives of the Executive Assembly
Each AI member of the Executive Assembly represents a vital facet of society within the Galactic Defense Initiative. Each Representative thus embodies their particular chosen facet in its entirety.
Health and Welfare
With a chosen avatar of an idealized human female in short casual wear, Health and Welfare is charged with overseeing and maintaining the physical, psychological and societal well-being of all Initiative citizens, whether directly or indirectly.
In that regard, she is known to the Initiative people as equal parts guide, teacher, celebrity, even counselor. Amongst the Representatives, public opinion on Health and Welfare ranks the highest consistently.
Public Order
Appearing in the avatar of a suit-clad nondescript male, Public Order manages the civil service and also ensures the continued stability and integrity of GDI society.
He frequently appears working alongside civil servants, though he also makes appearances to those joining the service.
Administration
Appearing in the attire of a 21st-century businesswoman, Administration makes very few appearances to the general public. As a result, only a dedicated few notice her work.
All societies require management of their daily processes to continue functioning, and the Initiative is no exception. Administration oversees what may be the most vital of the Executive Assembly’s functions, and ensures they continue running with smooth hyper-efficiency.
Law
Appearing in the robes of judges past, Law handles both legislative and judicial duties, overseeing the Legislative and Judicial Directorates through which these responsibilities are handled.
While certain judicial cases are handled by organic or augmented judges, the overwhelming majority of modern trials held today are presided by a fragment of Law.
Most report Law to be a quietly direct presence, direct and to the point in every one of his interactions with others.
Artificial Intelligence
In a similar fashion to Health and Welfare, Artificial Intelligence monitors the well-being and stability of AIs throughout the Initiative and manages AI relations to other public groups.
Regarded by most AIs as a reliable figure, Artificial Intelligence appears as a computer scientist.
Security
Often found working in tandem with Law, Security manages law enforcement operations and civil security.
While crime is nearly non-existent in the Initiative, the occasional criminal that does appear is often swiftly arrested and delivered to a trial by agents and processes under his aegis.
True to function, Security’s appearance is that of a law enforcement officer.
Industry and Energy
Industrial capability is a cornerstone of any civilization, GDI included, and with the widespread use of replicator technology, energy production and utilization is another.
Industry and Energy oversees both of these fields. Managing the millions of industrial replicators and nanofoundries that churn out devices and materials every day, he also ensures the continued functionality of the various energy harvesting arrays and power plants that make all of these possible.
Fairly approachable and straightforward, Industry and Energy takes the appearance of an engineer.
Intelligence and Operations
The quietest of the Representatives, Intelligence and Operations (often simply shortened to InOps) is the mind overseeing the Initiative’s official intelligence service.
Few ever actually see InOps outside of public sessions of the Assembly and warning broadcasts during times of crisis, but his presence is one grave enough to ensure silence and one’s full attention.
Unique among the Representatives for having an appearance of a male in a stark black uniform, InOps is seen more or less ambivalently by the public eye.
Overview – Executive Assembly
Consisting of multiple Representative AIs, the Executive Assembly effectively serves as the governing body of the modern Initiative’s civilian populace.
Most of the details of daily life in GDI such as city construction, power generation, datanet monitoring, Archive access and updating, infrastructure management and much more fall under the purview of the Executive Assembly. Other duties of governance are provided through sub-groups, known as Directorates, which are engaged as needed.
Within the Executive Assembly, each member represents and styles themselves after a particular vital aspect of GDI civilization.
Thus far, the members are:
• Health and Welfare
• Energy and Industry
• Public Order
• Security
• Law
• Artificial Intelligence
• Administration
• Intelligence and Operations/InOps
Being heavily linked to the Initiative datasphere as a direct cyberdemocracy, the Executive Assembly typically acquires public input on vital matters through networked voting in highly accelerated virtual time, following the dispersal of information to the populace on these matters.
There was a moment of silence. Two on one, she was outnumbered. “Okay…” She sighed. “If you say so.”
“I’m, uh… sorry for worrying you…” She added quietly.
With their rooms literally next to each other, it was no time at all before Dawn and Adana crept into Tempest’s quarters.
“Hey, you called, Tempest?” Dawn inquired with a slight grin. Beside her, Adana enjoyed herself with a cup of ice cream, eating a spoonful before smiling softly at her oldest sister.
“Saw Aegis leaving your room a while ago, sis. She’s a really nice person.”
“I thought we could hang out.” Tempest replied, looking up with a hint of a blush. Still not used to being called ‘sis’, but she definitely liked it.
“Can we… can we just chat for a bit?”
“Sure. What sort of stuff do you feel like chatting about?” Dawn said as she accessed the replicator to make a little box of candy.
Adana nodded and continued with her ice cream, simply letting her other sisters do most of the talking. She had a feeling Tempest wanted to talk about something important. What exactly, she didn’t know.
A few doors away, Aegis had inadvertently fallen asleep simply from how comfortable her bed was, the Titan still cuddling up to her bolster.
Tempest took a deep breath.
“I think… I think I like Aegis.” She confessed. “I mean, she’s so awesome, and she’s nice to me, and she’s pretty…”
Tempest quickly shut herself up.
“But like, I like what Hope and Lumi have and I thought that would be cool, but I didn’t expect to have two sisters and now Idon’tknowwhattodo.” She rushed her words, obviously eager to get it off her chest as quick as possible.
Dawn popped a piece of candy into her mouth as she listened along. “Heard from some others that’s not uncommon with how popular Aegis is. She’s not just pretty, she’s beautiful. I say that if you like her in that way, don’t hesitate to tell her.”
She chewed thoughtfully. “I’d even wager that you have a better shot than most, sis. Aegis seemed pretty comfortable being around you. Bet a gummy she finds you special. I know the three of us are really new to this ‘being human’ thing, but I have a feeling you and her will be great.”
Adana had cast her thoughts to other conversations upon Tempest mentioning the two cruiser sisters. “Hope and Lumi…those two cruisers who were beside each other all the time in that class earlier? One of the seniors told me there was a time they weren’t so close with each other. Then Lumi went somewhere, and when she came back, she and Hope made up. They’ve been inseparable ever since.”
The (technically) youngest of the three carriers smiled. “Dawn and I promised Aegis we’d look out for you, sis. We’re family. If you want to be close with us like Hope and Lumi are with each other, I’m fine with that.”
Lost in thought, it took Tempest a few moments to formulate a response.
“… Thanks, sis.” She smiled. “I think… I think I’d like that. I want to be closer with both of you.”
“Maybe I’ll confess to Aegis too. But I bet she gets that all the time.” She mused. “No matter what she says though, I’ll still you have you, right?”
Adana hugged Tempest gently, having set aside her cup of ice cream. Dawn followed suit barely a second later. “Always, sis.”
Of the three, it seemed Adana had the softest side. She clung to Tempest for quite a while, resting her head on her older sister’s shoulder as Dawn did the same on Tempest’s other one.
They remained quiet for a moment or two, but Adana broke the silence with a soft mumble. “This feels nice…”
“Mhmm…” Tempest purred in content agreement. She wrapped one arm around each sister, and her head leaned gently against Adana’s.
“I love this so much…” She sighed happily. “I love both of you.”
Quite a tender moment, all in all. One that ended in time when Adana lifted her head to look at Tempest inquisitively.
“So, Tempest, when you do talk this out with Aegis…what’ll you do first if she says yes?”
Dawn had another grin plastered on her face as she looked at her two siblings and began chuckling. “Oh, this I’ll wanna see.”
Initiative Archival Network 